Finalists named for Wisconsin Avenue project

A dozen finalists were named for a public art initiative that will take place on West Wisconsin Avenue next summer and fall.

The project will transform a 10-block stretch of Wisconsin Avenue and a former rail corridor connecting the Harambee and Riverwest neighborhoods in order to make the area more inviting.

Last spring, ArtPlace America, a group of national and regional foundations and banks that works with the National Endowment for the Arts and other agencies, offered up a $350,000 grant for the "Creational Trails" proposal.

In October, Art Milwaukee, which is coordinating the project, put out a "call for placemakers" – meaning artists, designers, engineers and technicians from almost any industry – to submit proposals for creative ideas that would attract people to the area and enrich the space.

The group received 167 proposals and picked 12 finalists to present their ideas at City Hall on Dec. 10 from 6 to 8 p.m. A a jury of art and public space experts will select two to four winners.

The public is welcome to attend. Complimentary snacks and drinks will be available, while they last, from Mo's Irish Pub, Mo's Steakhouse and Sprecher Brewery. The Intercontinental Hotel will host a discussion / after party.

The jurors will include former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist; public art consultant Regina Flanigan; Claudia Mooney, arts administrator for the Chipstone Foundation; director and producer Brad Pruitt; Lisa Sutcliffe, curator of photography at the Milwaukee Art Museum; Debra Brehmer, director of the Portrait Society Gallery; and Preston Cole, environmental services superintendent at the Department of Public Works.

The selected projects will be part of a series of events on West Wisconsin Avenue in 2014.

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